KEMAMAN: The Youth and Sports Ministry has welcomed the move by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to allow clubs and state football associations in the country to bring in import players next year.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, said the move would help improve the quality and level of soccer in the country.

"But we must also remember to what had happened earlier with the players we got. They were not the best players while the high cost resulted in a portion of the clubs or state football associations budgets to be used in paying one or two imported players.

"This will be a drain on the financial resources of the clubs or state associations, and the old stories of not being able to pay salaries and such, will recur," he told reporters here today.

However, Ahmad Shabery said with the move, local soccer fans would be able to witness a new environment in the Malaysian League.

FAM has proposed to allow football associations in the states to take in three imported players for each team next year.